A circular knitting machine 10 according to the prior art is shown in FIG. 1. The circular knitting machine 10 comprises a raised horizontal bed plate 12 that supports a cam-retaining ring 14. A revolving gear ring rotatably supported by a ball race resides between the cam-retaining ring and the bed plate. A knitting cylinder surrounded by a cylindrical cover assembly 16 supports knitting elements such as pivoting cams and reciprocating needles that are actuated by the revolving gear ring when the machine 10 is operated to produce tubular knitted fabric. The fabric passes down through the knitting cylinder and bed plate as knitting proceeds and is generally collected on a roll that revolves about a horizontal axis within the lower housing 18 of the knitting machine.
A ring assembly 20 supports multiple active yarn feeders 22 that provide yarns for the knitting of fabric. The yarn feeders pull yarn from passive creels (not shown) and provide the yarn to the knitting cylinder. The yarns extending from the yarn feeders to the knitting cylinder are controllably tensioned by the feeders to maintain quality and consistency as knitted tubular fabric is produced.
The ring assembly 20 is supported by a plurality of upright support members 24. Typically, three or four upright support members support the ring assembly. Three support members 24 are particularly shown to support the ring assembly in FIGS. 1 and 2 in order to provide a particular example of a known circular knitting machine. The multiple support members that support the ring assembly are connected to and are supported at least in part by the cam-retaining ring 14 and the bed plate 12. Though this arrangement, which is typical among prior knitting machines, is sturdy and reliable, certain inconveniences and inefficiencies have been recognized in both frequent production activities and in less frequent activities that entail configuring and servicing the machine.
A frequent production activity is illustrated in FIG. 2, wherein a technician struggles to prepare the knitting machine for operation by stringing yarns from the active yarn feeders to the knitting cylinder. This activity is a regular task in operating circular knitting machines and is sometimes called “knitting down” the machine. The activity of the technician is inconveniently obstructed by the support members 24 as the technician works his way around the machine. As the technician reaches around a support member in FIG. 2, the work becomes particularly tedious and can entail bumps and bruises to the arms and forehead of the technician as he contacts the support member. The technician repeatedly experiences these difficulties as he knits down the machine and encounters the multiple support members 24.
Beyond frequent production activities, activities toward configuring and servicing the circular knitting machine can entail accessing the knitting cylinder and other components within the cover assembly 16 and below the cam-retaining ring 14 (FIG. 1). The multiple support members 24 are supported at respective locations by the cam-retaining ring 14 and the bed plate 12. When internal components of the machine are to be serviced in place, difficulties arise because the multiple support members obstruct access to the internal components much like they obstruct knitting down activities in FIG. 2. The multiple support members 24 together surround and in a sense cage the knitting cylinder. Thus, if a knitting cylinder is to be removed from the knitting machine, one or more of the support members must typically be removed from the machine while the ring assembly 20 is supported by a crane or other support means disposed above the ring assembly. If the revolving gear ring and ball race residing between the cam-retaining ring and the bed plate are to be accessed for cleaning or service, then typically all of the multiple support members 24 must be removed from the machine because the support members and ring assembly are supported at least in part by the cam-retaining ring and bed plate.
Therefore, improvements are needed toward supporting the ring assembly of a circular knitting machine by some arrangement that allows convenient knitting down activities and servicing activities.